newfoundchaos
New member
Hi all,
I am new to these forums. This seems like a wonderful wealth of information so I was hoping to get some advice here.
I got my pup Oscar in May of 2014. He was 11 weeks at the time. He will be 1 year old on February 21st.
The story is, he started exhibiting signs of lameness around 7 months. Oscar started showing stiffness in his back legs after periods of rest, particularly at night. At first, I chalked it up to growing pains. He was arching his back a ton, like a cat, after standing up. I found it getting worse and took him to our regular vet after seeing him struggle to stand one day after doggy daycare.
Our vet did an examination, blood work, and took X-Rays. She found he had hip dysplasia in addition to elbow and knee problems, but suggested we visit a specialist for confirmation and routes of treatment. I decided to try (key word being "try") not to worry until I knew more.
I saw the specialist a few weeks later and it was not good news. Oscar's hips exhibit severe hip dysplasia. When he puts weight on his back legs, his joints come out of socket (on both sides, though it seems his left side is more painful). You can actually see this happening. When he's standing, you see his joint roll out, and as he sways, it rolls back in. This was no surprise to me, given the way he hobbled after exercise.
The specialist said I have two options: exercise him regularly in the form of leashed walks (though it's hard on him), therapy, and anti inflammatories for life and hope he can manage the pain, or, a total hip replacement on both sides. If we go the hip replacement route, it'll end up being around 6 grand per hip start to finish (that includes X-rays, consultations, and follow-ups), barring any complications, which are always possible. I do not have pet insurance.
For those familiar with hip surgeries, FHO and TPO are not options given Oscar's build and severity of dysplasia. I was surprised when he said a total hip replacement as I expected him to suggest something less... Less aggressive? But he explained that puppies with these severe of symptoms rarely have good outlooks without surgical intervention.
If you're wondering, his parents have excellent hips. I saw their certifications. The breeder says she has never had to deal with this, and I believe her. She was shocked when I called her with this news, and it felt genuine. It's just unlucky and horrible that Oscar was dealt this card. As the ortho said, these things just sometimes happen.
So like I said, this was about 3-4 months ago. The ortho said surgery wasn't an option until 10 months of age at the earliest. Oscar is now 11 months. Since seeing that specialist, I have taken Oscar to a holistic vet who tries alternative methods of treatment. He's been doing hydrotherapy, started taking a new supplement (an alfalfa/yucca liquid that goes in his food, in addition to the Dasuquin with MSM that he's already been on), and got the pain medicine tramadol (in addition to the anti-inflammatory carprofen he was prescribed long ago), which was HUGE. A week after his first appointment, armed with this pain killer, Oscar had an enormous increase in his mobility and comfort. It was obvious. He went from struggling to stand and arching his back like a cat after a day of nothing to being able to go on walks, pounce around the backyard, and still be able to move.
However, his improvement plateaued there. He definitely got better initially and it stopped there. I am so grateful for the pain meds as it obviously helps, but only to a point, if that makes sense. He wasn't and isn't perfect--I still can't take him on walks longer than 20 minutes or he'll be limping so badly he drags the top of his left leg on the ground when we takes a step.
And don't get me wrong, he still functions. He walks around the house and pounces on his toys, chases the cat, bounces through the snow, gets VERY excited when he sees other dogs or humans, but the real symptoms come out when he is relaxed. He still limps for no reason (meaning, even without exercise, he hobbles). His back legs shake all the time, even when standing. I still try to avoid all stairs. I still cringe if he sees another dog because he wants to play so badly and I know he can't. I can't take him to doggy daycare for fear he won't stand up that night.
I am leaning heavily toward a hip replacement on his left side, which is definitely the worse side, and hope that his right will be strong enough after his left heals that we won't need to do more. I understand the cost, but the way I see it, even if Oscar only lives to be 4 or 5, having that many years of me seeing him in discomfort and knowing he isn't as happy as he could be would be selfish and excruciating for me. I hate seeing him in pain and I want him to play and run like a normal dog. Being able to function isn't enough for me and for him right now at this young of an age. If he were 6 and these problems were happening, that'd be a different story. But he's still a baby.
So here come the questions: has anyone had a puppy with really severe dysplasia? I don't mean a vet said he had it and you saw no symptoms and he's lived a long, happy life... Oscar's symptoms are obvious. This is not a case of mild dysplasia. Has anyone had a hip replacement done for their Newf? What was your experience? What was recovery like?
If anyone has any suggestions or experience with this, please let me know. My plan is to have a follow-up with the holistic vet next week since Oscar has completed a 10-pack round of hydrotherapy + chiropractic visits and see what he thinks Oscar's progress has been. And I am scheduled for X-rays with the ortho in about a month to order parts, should I choose to go through with the replacement.
Edit: I did look at the sticky post about hip dysplasia, and read through the whole thing, but I found that commented much more on the validity of the X-rays and urging the poster to wait it out and try other methods before surgery. I have done all that and am really hoping someone who has been through this will reach out, because I really can't find much of anything in regard to hip replacement anecdotes, less with Newfoundlands.
Thanks everyone,
Jess and Oscar
I am new to these forums. This seems like a wonderful wealth of information so I was hoping to get some advice here.
I got my pup Oscar in May of 2014. He was 11 weeks at the time. He will be 1 year old on February 21st.
The story is, he started exhibiting signs of lameness around 7 months. Oscar started showing stiffness in his back legs after periods of rest, particularly at night. At first, I chalked it up to growing pains. He was arching his back a ton, like a cat, after standing up. I found it getting worse and took him to our regular vet after seeing him struggle to stand one day after doggy daycare.
Our vet did an examination, blood work, and took X-Rays. She found he had hip dysplasia in addition to elbow and knee problems, but suggested we visit a specialist for confirmation and routes of treatment. I decided to try (key word being "try") not to worry until I knew more.
I saw the specialist a few weeks later and it was not good news. Oscar's hips exhibit severe hip dysplasia. When he puts weight on his back legs, his joints come out of socket (on both sides, though it seems his left side is more painful). You can actually see this happening. When he's standing, you see his joint roll out, and as he sways, it rolls back in. This was no surprise to me, given the way he hobbled after exercise.
The specialist said I have two options: exercise him regularly in the form of leashed walks (though it's hard on him), therapy, and anti inflammatories for life and hope he can manage the pain, or, a total hip replacement on both sides. If we go the hip replacement route, it'll end up being around 6 grand per hip start to finish (that includes X-rays, consultations, and follow-ups), barring any complications, which are always possible. I do not have pet insurance.
For those familiar with hip surgeries, FHO and TPO are not options given Oscar's build and severity of dysplasia. I was surprised when he said a total hip replacement as I expected him to suggest something less... Less aggressive? But he explained that puppies with these severe of symptoms rarely have good outlooks without surgical intervention.
If you're wondering, his parents have excellent hips. I saw their certifications. The breeder says she has never had to deal with this, and I believe her. She was shocked when I called her with this news, and it felt genuine. It's just unlucky and horrible that Oscar was dealt this card. As the ortho said, these things just sometimes happen.
So like I said, this was about 3-4 months ago. The ortho said surgery wasn't an option until 10 months of age at the earliest. Oscar is now 11 months. Since seeing that specialist, I have taken Oscar to a holistic vet who tries alternative methods of treatment. He's been doing hydrotherapy, started taking a new supplement (an alfalfa/yucca liquid that goes in his food, in addition to the Dasuquin with MSM that he's already been on), and got the pain medicine tramadol (in addition to the anti-inflammatory carprofen he was prescribed long ago), which was HUGE. A week after his first appointment, armed with this pain killer, Oscar had an enormous increase in his mobility and comfort. It was obvious. He went from struggling to stand and arching his back like a cat after a day of nothing to being able to go on walks, pounce around the backyard, and still be able to move.
However, his improvement plateaued there. He definitely got better initially and it stopped there. I am so grateful for the pain meds as it obviously helps, but only to a point, if that makes sense. He wasn't and isn't perfect--I still can't take him on walks longer than 20 minutes or he'll be limping so badly he drags the top of his left leg on the ground when we takes a step.
And don't get me wrong, he still functions. He walks around the house and pounces on his toys, chases the cat, bounces through the snow, gets VERY excited when he sees other dogs or humans, but the real symptoms come out when he is relaxed. He still limps for no reason (meaning, even without exercise, he hobbles). His back legs shake all the time, even when standing. I still try to avoid all stairs. I still cringe if he sees another dog because he wants to play so badly and I know he can't. I can't take him to doggy daycare for fear he won't stand up that night.
I am leaning heavily toward a hip replacement on his left side, which is definitely the worse side, and hope that his right will be strong enough after his left heals that we won't need to do more. I understand the cost, but the way I see it, even if Oscar only lives to be 4 or 5, having that many years of me seeing him in discomfort and knowing he isn't as happy as he could be would be selfish and excruciating for me. I hate seeing him in pain and I want him to play and run like a normal dog. Being able to function isn't enough for me and for him right now at this young of an age. If he were 6 and these problems were happening, that'd be a different story. But he's still a baby.
So here come the questions: has anyone had a puppy with really severe dysplasia? I don't mean a vet said he had it and you saw no symptoms and he's lived a long, happy life... Oscar's symptoms are obvious. This is not a case of mild dysplasia. Has anyone had a hip replacement done for their Newf? What was your experience? What was recovery like?
If anyone has any suggestions or experience with this, please let me know. My plan is to have a follow-up with the holistic vet next week since Oscar has completed a 10-pack round of hydrotherapy + chiropractic visits and see what he thinks Oscar's progress has been. And I am scheduled for X-rays with the ortho in about a month to order parts, should I choose to go through with the replacement.
Edit: I did look at the sticky post about hip dysplasia, and read through the whole thing, but I found that commented much more on the validity of the X-rays and urging the poster to wait it out and try other methods before surgery. I have done all that and am really hoping someone who has been through this will reach out, because I really can't find much of anything in regard to hip replacement anecdotes, less with Newfoundlands.
Thanks everyone,
Jess and Oscar
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......My Abbey had a terrible set of hips..spine and elbows actually basically bad all over.......there were too many parts of her to mention as being bad.
